The beginning of anything new can be both exciting and scary. So to say that I was equally eager and anxious to start with such a foreign subject is no understatement. Looking over the notebook we received the first night was rather intimidating for this 20-year veteran. However, the way that Judy Cunningham took us through the material gave me new hope and joy to be where I am in my career and to call myself an educator.

Throughout this course I continually thought of VISION as a road map. A guide to determine the important stops along a long, long, highway, where the journey is just as important as the destination. I have always been a realist. Not one for setting lofty goals, only short term targets that gets kids where they need to be. I put out fires on an hour-by-hour basis and there is no time for shared vision, as there is barely time for lunch. In the quiet, however I have dreamed of a place that is not just putting band-aids on critical issues or covering the proverbial backside. I want to see a place that takes all stakeholders into consideration, not just the loudest. I want to work in a school that does make the decisions based on the norms that were set up ahead of time.

I have been a leader in each campus I have worked, sometimes one of the unofficial few with some influence on the appointed ones. I have tried with some success to always fight the good fight for the student and parents I serve. But I can see now that I have gone about it the hard way. What Judy’s teaching has taught me is how important it is to BE the leader if positive change is to occur. I never wanted to be in the spotlight that our principals and coordinators find themselves in. However, now I want that role, I yearn to set up a program that works from the start, with norms and meetings that have purpose and good information. I will start small, within my current position in ROP.

Since we started, I proposed to my administrator a new focus group that will bring one counselor from each high school in our district together at my site. The purpose is to gather information, promote collaboration and set some goals for career education in our district. As far as I know this has never been tried without a “real” administrator directing it. This is sort of an experiment that could go no where, but if the norms can be set up front and a common vision can be found, I believe we can make some positive program changes and additions in guidance and counseling in OUSD.

The document I found most helpful was Barth’s A Personal Vision of a Good School. Perhaps because it seemed the most down-to-earth and parallels my thoughts that I am not able to scribe myself. One phrase has continued to repeat over and over in my head over the past month, “The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth of the hole.” I really have felt that in my bones recently. I was in a rut, but feel a new excitement and joy at working in education. I am proud of my experiences and the wisdom that led me here. My colleagues have seen a difference, I hope. My vision is clear. Although it may not match the overall statement my district and the current board “share”, it is one that I am eager to see come to fruition in my little corner of Orange.